FYI: Steve's gonna swear. Just a little.

"Okay, let's go again," Steve panted, wiping the drips of sweat from his brow with the bottom of his shirt, and it was hard to avert your eyes at the sight of his chiseled abdomen as it peeked out from below the cloth. He smirked slightly from behind the shirt, having seen your eyes fixed on him, but when he finally dropped the shirt back into place, he was straight-faced and ready to return to work.

"This time I want you to drop that right shoulder faster and hook your foot tighter. We're going until you get me to the ground."

You took a deep breath to prepare and dropped your weight back into your stance to maintain your balance. He crouched down into position and gave you a quick nod only a second before he pounced; sparring with Steve was always intense and you had to be ready in a flash. When he charged forward you did as you were told, dropping your shoulder quickly to hit him in the ribs, but he didn't budge. In an attempt to save the move, you twisted his arm back to break his inertia, but all that did was slow you enough for him to reach down to grab your leg and throw you soundly onto the mat. You hit with a loud gasp at the pain in the left side of your chest, forgetting that you were already recovering from an injury there and not cushioning your fall.

"Woah, hey, are you alright?" Steve said, now full of worry as he knelt down at your side. "I must've misjudged how hard I threw you. I'm sorry." He saw you holding your side and reached down to move your shirt to check for injury, but you quickly slapped his hand away and took extra care as you stood.

"It wasn't you, Cap. I got banged up a little working with Sam yesterday and just didn't get my hand down fast enough. It's on me."

He stood silently for a moment and watched you gather yourself, waiting and deciding if the practice should continue or not. When you winced just from moving to straighten your shirt, he stepped to your side and grabbed your hand. "Let me look."

"Steve, I'm fine, really I just-"

"Now."

Turning your head away to avoid his disapproving eyes, you moved your hand and allowed him to lift your shirt slightly, enough to see the start of a bruise at the bottom of your rib cage. You felt your shirt continue to lift further up, and you heard him suck in a harsh breath when he realized that the darkened mark on your skin extended up into your armpit and towards your back.

"Sam hit you this hard?"

"I didn't protect my blind spot." Your voice felt uncertain even as you said the words, and you could only hope that Steve would accept your response and let you go. You had absolutely no interest in getting into a lengthy discussion on a topic that wasn't really any of his business. "Chalk it up to a learning experience, I suppose."

"Mmm hmm," he hummed skeptically. The tips of his fingers grazed just above your skin without making contact as he continued to look, but the small breeze of air from his movements gave you goose bumps that sent a chill down your spine. He wanted to connect, wanting to try to erase the pain and discoloration away, but he pulled his hand back and gently lowered your shirt back into place. "We're done for today. I think we should hold off for a few days until this heals."

~~~

With your training done early for the day, you seized the opportunity to go home early and enjoy some time alone before your boyfriend joined you. Between missions with the team and spending time with him during every free moment, you relished in the idea of having a few precious hours to yourself. After a hot shower that soothed the ache in your muscles and drained all of the hot water from your home, you grabbed a book and curled up on the couch under your favorite blanket.

The silence was glorious but ridiculously short-lived; he had come home early as well and had allowed you only enough time to make it to chapter two.

"Hey, I see you got out early today too, huh?"

"I see that you're still a genius," he scoffed. "What the hell are you doing here anyway? They must not really need you all that much, huh? Not really a surprise."

"We got done early with training, so Steve sent me home."

He shut the door with a slam and threw his keys loudly on the table next to you, startling you slightly but enough to noticeably jump. "Well he obviously has more work to do if that scares you. Or maybe he just isn't as great as everyone makes him out to be. I guess I'll just have to whip you into shape myself."

~~~

"Mornin', Sam."

"Cap," he nodded, grabbing the orange juice from the refrigerator and taking a long drink. Steve stood nearby and watched, holding an empty glass in his hand, but when Sam finally finished and returned the container, Steve returned his glass to the cabinet.

"Pass..." he mumbled to himself, instead reaching in for a bottle of water.

"Come on, I've seen you do it! Don't even try to deny it."

"I cannot confirm or deny what you think you may or may not have seen," Steve coughed, casually throwing the cap to his bottle on the table top and leaning back against the refrigerator. Sam quickly slapped his hand down over the cap as it bounced a little farther than planned and nearly into his plate of food, giving Steve a warning glance.

"Sorry. Hey, can I talk to you about something?"

Sensing a serious change in the Captain's tone, Sam set his fork down and gave him his full attention. "Yeah, man, of course. What's going on?"

"Did you work with (Y/N) a couple days ago?"

"No," he replied, but then his eyes widened and a panicked expression took over. "Shit, was I supposed to? Did I miss something? I swear, I've got every meeting and workout mapped out in my phone, and I didn't get an alarm." He reached into his pocket to grab it but stopped at Steve's raised hand.

"Calm down," he chuckled, "you didn't miss anything. I just...I thought I heard her say that she did." His gaze averted down and his eyes moved as if he were looking inside his own mind for the answer, but he was only becoming more uncertain of what was happening. "Why would she lie to me?"

Sam leaned back in his chair now, all but forgetting about breakfast, "what did she lie about?"

Steve pulled his phone from his pocket and was about to call you, but hesitated; his thumb held steady over your number as his mind began to race. If he called you, what would he even say? You'd probably just hang up on him and tell him it was none of his concern, but it was. He cared about you. Sure, probably too much, and he maybe even loved you, but he couldn't say that to you. You had a boyfriend, and with him being your Captain it would be inappropriate.

But he was starting to not care about all of that.

"Steve? What did she lie about?"

He finally went on to tell Sam about your training session and the injury that he had seen. He told him how it felt like you were hiding something, but at the time he didn't immediately put it all together. Over the last day it kept replaying in his mind as if it were meant to get his attention; to show him something that he was supposed to see.

"Cap, she called like an hour ago and said she was home sick today." Sam bolted up from his chair and threw his dishes in the sink before making his way to the door and pausing to get Steve to follow. "She never calls in sick. We need to go."

~~~

"(Y/N)?" Steve called out as he softly knocked on your door. He stopped and waited a few minutes before starting again. "(Y/N), it's Steve and Sam."

Sam held up a device to the door to scan your apartment, showing a heat signature that told him someone was definitely home. "She's alone. Maybe she's asleep?"

Steve reached down and grabbed the door knob, turning it with a swift motion and yanking it back to remove it from it's place. The old wooden door opened slowly on it's own, now that there was nothing to hold it shut. He peeked his head in and didn't see you and was filled with anxiety at its was eerie silence. "I'm gonna go check," he whispered, "stay here."

He slowly made his way into your apartment and paused just inside the door, trying for one last chance at approval to enter. When you still didn't reply he rationalized to himself that it wasn't considered breaking and entering if he was worried about you. Steve held his hand on your bedroom door and closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and pushed.

"(Y/N)?"

You were tucked tightly into your bed with your blankets up over your head, likely being why you didn't hear him. He felt relief at the sight of you, even more so at the sight of your body moving rhythmically as you breathed. It had never once crossed his mind that he would find you any other way, but now with the idea that you were in danger running through his thoughts, he was thankful to see your movements. He gently sat down on the edge of the bed next to you and slowly pulled the blanket back to see your face. It didn't wake you when he exposed you to the brightness of the day, and it surprisingly didn't wake you when he gasped at the sight of the new bruises that marked your perfect features.

"Stay with her," he commanded, having quickly returned to the front door. "I've got a job to do. If that son of a bitch shows up before I can get my hands on him, I want you to take him out. That's an order."

"Language, Cap-"

"This is not the fucking time, Sam."

~~~

Nearly two hours had passed and Sam still hadn't heard from Steve. He stayed with you, sitting just outside of your room as if he were guarding you and taking his orders very seriously. When you began to stir and sounded like you were waking up, he hurried to move to the couch and take on a less suspicious position.

"Sam? What are you doing here?" you asked with a sleepy voice, yawning as you walked towards him. You had forgotten all about your altered appearance, but your skin felt a sting as you yawned, jolting your memory. "Seriously," you now groaned, "what are you doing here?"

"I'm here because you completely suck at lying." He stood and blocked you from moving any further, taking your chin in his hand to study your face, turning it very gently from side to side. "And because I'm pretty sure that Cap's killing him."

"What?!" you gasped, pulling your face away. "Please tell me that you're joking. Sam..."

"He's not dead. His own mother might not be able to recognize his face for a while, but he's not dead," Steve announced from the doorway. "You'll never see that guy again, (Y/N)."

"Steve, I was gonna handle it."

"I'm sure you were, (Y/N). But I decided to handle it a little bit sooner. I wasn't going to let another minute go by, so you can be pissed at me if you want, but I'm not about to apologize."

"Sam, could you give us a minute, please?" you sighed and waited for him to step into the hallway before talking again. "You owe me a new door."

"I owe you the door knob."

"You overreacted."

"Because I love you."

"Well, you should've...wait...what?"

Steve sighed and flopped himself down on your couch and rubbed his eyes with frustration. "I can't do anything about it, but now that I've blurted it out, I guess it's better that you know."

"Um, this is new," you mumbled, sitting next to him with shock on your face and not looking at him. "But why can't you do anything about it, exactly?"

"I'm your S.O., and it would be inappropriate." After a moment the realization of what you had just asked him registered in his mind and he became visibly nervous, shifting his position and clasping his hands in his lap. When he spoke again, you smiled slightly at the wavering uneasiness in his voice, very uncharacteristic for the Captain. "Did you...do you...want me to do anything about it?"

"No," you answered, but when his posture all but crumbled in front of you at your rejection, you had to hurry and clarify before the poor guy never spoke to you again out of his own embarrassment. "Not right now, I mean. I might have a few things to work through first, I'm sure you can imagine."

Steve looked at you with excitement that quickly faded; he shook his head and looked away, his gaze dropping to the floor. His mind began to race to find a solution, but none came. "We...I...can't. I'm still Captain."

"My silence can be bought!" Sam yelled from the hallway. "Listen to this! Cap and (Y/N)? Nah, you must be crazy, there's nothing happening there. You saw them in the gym? I think you're confused, man, those two can barely stand each other. Strange noises from Steve's room? Yeah, I think he's taking up yoga or something." He laughed at himself, feeling satisfied with his offer, "see? I saw nothing, I heard nothing!"